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The scope of the HIV/AIDS issue is so massive that numbers become meaningless … I have heard them hundreds of times, told others of their scale on numerous occasions, and yet at this moment as I type – I cannot remember how many zeros to put at the end. Is it another 10 million orphans by 2020, or 100 000 a month? I am sure I could do a quick google search and discover the most recent UN figures … but that perhaps is not the point. The numbers are too massive for me to comprehend, and I am significantly involved in the issue. For most, the numbers become meaningful only as information, not as a way to relate or to possibly engage with the issue.

The only way in which I feel I might truly face the realities of the AIDS pandemic across Africa is through some sort of participation. There are many ways to do so, but here is my favourite.

Hands at Work in Africa. The individuals that make up Hands work very hard at starting Home Based Care initiatives in the small communities across the continent. Home Based Care does what it says, it keeps orphans in their homes while mobilizing the community to care for their needs.

The incredible advantage to home-based care is that it does not further seperate orphans from extended family members – instead the children remain closer to their aunts and uncles, grandparents and friends. Secondly the cost to maintain a child in their home environment is far less than the cost to remove them to an orphanage. At present, Hands At Work is caring for over 14 000 children at a resource level that would not care for 1400 in an orphanage.

It does not hurt that George Snyman, the director of Hands at Work, is an inspiring fellow. A former IT guy, a white South African, he one day went for a walk – over the next few weeks and months he visited the mud huts of hundreds of individuals and faced the realities of AIDS not as a concept, but as individuals. If you watch this video you can hear the story for yourself. Heather Yourex, a Canadian Mid-Term Volunteer and Journalist recently put this together:

One by One from Heather Yourex on Vimeo.

What do you call it when I give you money, and you give me a report and a receipt?

To me, the answer is simple. This is the relationship of a boss and an employee. A one-way street of authority and direction.

Strangely, in some circles, this exchange of resources for receipts is often known as ‘partnership’. Perhaps you also receive the same emails and direct mail campaigns that cross my desk every week or so; all seem intent in offering a strange version of ‘partnership’ with all kinds of people from Sudan to Sarnia.

Yesterday, as one of three guest panelists for a World Vision event, I was in sunny Vancouver. The organizers of the event offered a breakfast meeting in order to present some expertise on what effective partnership may actually look like.

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This is a map of the world with a twist. Instead of having each country (or continent) represented by land mass and area, each country is scaled according to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Canada looks like a toque, two sizes too small …

Some countries look like they could use a jog around the block, and forego the double-chocolate cake for desserts …

But where did a whole continent go?

Mark Crocker

Have you prepared just enough for this trip to make you dangerous? Learned the 10 basic language lessons, discovered the strange cultural customs, worked your way around a map of the country, and prepared your ministry objectives as fully as possible. Your preparation, coupled with the faith of those sending you may even give you the sense that the situation although difficult, should somehow, somewhere have a relatively simple solution.

The very nature of a short-term trip often spells out an unspoken version of the world. A version that suggests that resources and/or information is the basic commodity missing from the situation, discover the problem and fix it and all should be well. We operate like a large appliance repairman, “ we enter with a certain expertise and set of tools, find the problem and fix it – ˜good as new”! That version may best be illustrated by the common phrase spoken by most short and mid-term missions participants: “Why don’t they just…

The attitude is this: the problem is significant, but through resources, hard work and modern insight, we should be able to promote long-term solutions. In short, It is simply the prerogative of the short-termer to aid in the discovery of the root of the issue, develop some solutions, articulate and clearly teach those solutions to local peoples, and finally follow up to see how they are following through on the process. Much of this version of the world may only be true simply because the short-term worker has a clearly defined (short) time frame in which they can work.

Missionaries of every type have had to face these issues. In essence the question comes down to more than the resources we hold in our hands, the better question may be, “As we prepare to go, what do we need to bring, and what should we leave behind?”

What do you refuse to take on short-term missions?

Mark Crocker

I recently came across an old CTV article that referenced an Australian government travel website. I googled the Aussie government site and read the warnings firsthand, some notable warnings are:

• We advise you to exercise caution and monitor developments that might affect your safety in Canada because of the risk of terrorist attack.
• The wind-chill factor can also create dangerously cold outdoor conditions beyond the thermometer reading.
• The province of British Columbia in western Canada is in an active earthquake zone.
• Forest fires can occur in Canada.

Terrorism, cold weather, earthquakes and forest fires! These dangers place us on their watch list in terms of tourist security. At first the warnings seem laughable – as Canadians we know ourselves to be living in the safest place on earth … right!? It is too easy to poke fun at this seeming over-careful concern for personal security, and the readers comments after the article seem unanimous in their withering reply.

It would be easy to retaliate with the fact that seven out of the ten most venemous snakes in the world live in Australia, the vastness of the outback … or that Dingo’s Eat Babies! But now we are just getting silly. Fighting the argument at the same level at which it is made, validates it as an accurate argument.

As I smiled over the article, I suddenly remembered the many hundreds of people I have talked to over the years who have shared concerns very much along these lines when it comes to releasing their loved ones to participate in short term missions in other global ‘hotspots’. I think of it as the one Immutable and Infallible law of Short Term Mission; whenever someone decides to participate in mission, the news will quickly report of some significant danger around going to that specific place.

It happens everytime. Perhaps it is because we are simply paying attention and now listening for news on that region of the world, or because we have done a great job in sharing our mission with many others (who are all collectively paying attention to listening for news on that region of the world). Whatever the case, these new-found dangers sometimes have participants drop out due to their own fear, or the fear of friends and family.

Two thoughts jump out at me:

1. How much do we miss of what is actually happening in our world, simply because we are not listening (anyone remember this happening in the past? Rwandan genocide perhaps … or Sudan right now)
2. At a loss to first ourselves, how often does our fear keeps us from the adventure in front of us?

Of course everyone needs to make their own minds up whether or not they will go. I do not think that we are playing games here, and it is in no ones best interest to promote a naive bravado, or gung-ho cowboy attitude. A good friend took a team on his first trip overseas, and one of the team-members died after drowning in the sea during a day off. The fact that ‘it could have happened here’ is not too comforting to a grieving family, because it did not happen here, it happened in that vague space known as ‘over there’ – somewhere foreign. It is good to think through the ramifications of safety and security surrounding international travel. But … I do not believe that safety and security are the identifying reason why we do what we do.

If you would like my opinion on how to make a good decision on entering into insecure areas, check out this link to another article I had put together in April.

By the way, I promise I will blog details when the earthquake seperates us in BC from the rest of Canada, if you will let me know how the wind-chill and dangerously cold temperatures are working out for you.

Mark Crocker

It is a fairly recent trend wherein Short Term Missions (STM) became one of the premier methodologies in which the church relates to the world. This experiment perhaps popularized by organizations such as OM and YWAM, has resulted in an incredible explosion of global awareness, bringing the youth of the West (or Northern nations) to learn firsthand of the conditions of the rest of the world. In some cases, both the poor and wealthy of the world are able to sit and talk around the same table. Without question, this increase in missional awareness has resulted in a better global understanding, initiatives to help the poor such as clean water and clothing, as well as set up thousands of individuals to join the mission of God for the rest of their lives.

Yet this story has also not been all peaches and roses. The appeal of a the STM trip has had many thousands of others jump onto the bandwagon. Some ineffective teams work great damage to the character of God as they arrive internationally with their own single-minded agenda. Naive teams may deny the unique and strange ways of Christ with his diverse family around the globe.

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Christianity.ca – Two Weeks Overseas

This was an article I was interviewed for in response to Short Term Missions preparation

If you are a mid-termer – individuals who have worked in a cross-cultural setting for one month to one year – I would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to help out others planning a mid-term experience themselves.

Click here to take this survey to provide valuable feedback for others as they prepare. You can also navigate there from the Surveys link at the top of this page.

Thanks

Thanks!

Did you notice the new link at the top of the page?

a) what link?

b) yes, and I already clicked

c) not interested

d) I never do web surveys …

Anyways, if you are still wondering what this post is about … look up at the title bar and there, somewhere right of ‘About Mark’, lies the new addition – ‘Take the Survey’. Click it and you will be brought to a short 10 question survey.

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When it comes to international work, many novices feel that good intentions and a positive outlook are all that is necessary to accomplish great methods and outcomes. While intentions and positivity re very, very important … there are other necessary considerations to keep in mind when planning an international team experience.

A tool I have used for many years is the very helpful EFC Code of Best Practices. The code helps to set a minimum standard of preparation for teams and individuals engaging in international mission.

When I began training, and then later found this resource, I realised I was sadly lacking in many areas. I started small, worked on improving what I was doing well, as well as adding the most important elements I realized I was missing at the time.

Check them out for yourself, examine your own preparation process against the standards, and email or call me for assistance if you want to begin better preparation!

Section 1: Aims and Objectives
1.1 A Short-Term Mission program will have a defined purpose within Christian mission.
1.2 A Short-Term Mission program will have clear and realistic aims and objectives, which include viability, expectations of outcomes, and consideration of how the program serves the long-term objectives of all those involved.
1.3 The benefits to, and responsibilities of, the participant, the sending organization, the sending local church, the host organization and the host local church will be clearly defined and communicated.
1.4 Partnerships will be established, as far as possible, with host local churches and communities. These relationships, in the context of unity love, will be defined in terms of agreed-upon priorities, ownership, and expectations.
1.5 Appropriate sending local church involvement will be sought. A partnership will be developed, as far as is feasible, between the agency, participant and sending local church.
1.6 There will be a commitment to the participant to provide opportunities for personal and spiritual development throughout the experience.
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